Revisited Horrors
by storyseamstress95
Summary: Katherine Malfoy is married to Severus Snape and is now expecting her fifth child with him. Their family is in danger once more, from a terrorist group and dark family secrets that threaten to unwind them. Set 10 years after the war, this is a sequel to my fic Caught in the Middle. I highly recommend that you read that first, though this may be an ok standalone.
1. Chapter One

_Author's Note: This is the sequel to Caught in the Middle. You can most likely glean all the information that you need to enjoy this story in bits and pieces as the story continues, but I highly recommend that you read Caught in the Middle first. For my readers who already read Caught in the Middle, welcome back. :)_

"Hello?"

"Hello. Could you tell me if this is the house of Alexander Snape?"

"Daaad!"

"Sorry son, I didn't recognize you. You must have grown a full five inches since I left the house this morning."

I grinned, and poked my head out of the kitchen just in time to hear Alexander reply, "Dad, you know no such thing happened."

"Whether or not it did, I have arrived with three very important letters for my three eldest children," Severus said, smiling until the light of it reached his eyes.

Alexander's eyes grew wide and he quite literally ripped the letter addressed to him out of Severus's hands. He trembled as he opened it, and the letter shook in his hands as his eyes darted across the page, soaking in the letter's contents. A smile played about his lips and he yelled, "It's my Hogwarts letter!"

The twins ambled into the living room slowly, chatting about the newest feat of the Holyhead Harpies. Severus Tobias, Tobias to avoid confusion around the house, our five year old son, rushed into the room after hearing Alexander's shout. His eyes grew wide like Alexander's had and he asked Severus, "Can I go to Hogwarts too dad? Pleeaassse?"

Severus chuckled and ran his hand through Tobias's hair affectionately. "When you're eleven like Alexander, you can go to Hogwarts too. Not a moment sooner."

"But you're the Headmaster!" Tobias whined. "Can't you make an exception?"

"No," Severus said sternly.

Posy and Melanie broke their conversation to look at their father and wordlessly take their letters. Like everything else about them, other than their looks, their reactions were two different extremes. Melanie's quiet acceptance of it with a benign smile and Posy's whoop of joy to be getting her Hogwarts letter for the second year in a row. It thoroughly puzzled me on how different they were. To Melanie, grades were everything. For Posy, grades were important, but not as much as making friends and hanging out with them. Melanie could charm anyone she wanted when she turned on her wit and brilliant smile. Posy could make anyone weep for her if she simply put on a rather theatrical show with a few crocodile tears. Of course though, when turned on her stoic father who was much used to it, nothing was ever accomplished.

I shook my head in wonder at their very different personalities and went back to making dinner. From the kitchen, I could hear Alexander running with muffled footsteps to me and he burst in, saying breathlessly, "Mum, did you hear? I got my letter!"

I hummed in response and said, "Well, that makes it how many more days now until you go?"

"14!" he responded jovially. Severus had begun the practice of owling the letters to magical children two weeks before school, rather than on their birthday. For muggle-born children, letters were delivered by Pomona Sprout in person a month in advance of school starting.

However, as being the Headmaster had some privileges, Severus had decided to hand-deliver the children's letters to them every year.

I smiled as Alexander did a little jig around the kitchen, his heart surely singing. He had waited so long for the letter… I was a proud mother.

In my mind, I had stopped referring to him as my brother and began to call him my son. I was a mother to him in all of the most important ways, the only snag being that I didn't birth him. But it made no difference to me, or to Severus, who had taken him in with as much love as if his blood ran in Alexander's veins as well. I nodded towards the table and he understood that it was his turn to set it.

"So, when do you want to go to Diagon Alley?" I asked, stirring the pot of noodles that was to make that night's spaghetti.

He screwed up his face in thought and then looked at me sheepishly. "Would you mind if we go tomorrow?"

I giggled at his zealous attitude and said, "Of course we can!"

At this point, Severus had walked into the kitchen and given me a small kiss on the cheek. Posy and Melanie came into the kitchen and Posy asked, "Mum, would you mind if we didn't go to Diagon Alley this year?"

I paused what I was doing and said, "Why not? Don't you need new school supplies?"

Melanie rolled her eyes and said, "Well, yeah, but we don't want to traipse around bustling, stuffy Diagon Alley. We'd rather walk down Hogsmeade and take our time selecting supplies rather than being rushed because every store is packed."

I put a hand on my hip and said, "I'm not going to two different places to get school things. You can come to Diagon Alley with us."

"But mum, we're old enough, just let us go out to Hogsmeade by ourselves and we'll be fine," Posy reasoned.

To clear up confusion on this point, I should probably mention that we eventually sold Spinner's End and moved to Hogsmeade for several reasons. One, I wanted my children to grow up in a very magical settlement where they wouldn't have to abashedly apologize for magical accidents as a child. Secondly, Severus and I taught at the school, my subject being Muggle Studies and him being promoted to Headmaster a couple years ago, and we didn't want to live in the castle with as many children as we had, but needed to live closer by. And lastly, Severus didn't want to raise his children in the house that held so many horrible childhood memories for him, the house where he had seen his mother murdered before his eyes. So, we moved before Alexander's third birthday into a more spacious house. Which was a good thing, since we had baby number five due extremely soon.

The twins were being forced to share a room, which they didn't mind much, but I could tell it bothered Alexander to have to share a room with a brother who was so much younger than he. Alexander and Tobias had had their own rooms, but Tobias had to move in last month with Alexander so we could start preparing it as a nursery for the new baby. Severus had bluntly refused to have a pink room of any shade in his house, baby girl or not. So I had to resign to painting it a nice purple.

Back to the twins. While we lived in Hogsmeade, and I knew most of the people and trusted them not to hurt my children, I didn't like the thought of them going out alone to shop when they were only twelve years old. Not to mention, Harry and Ron had informed me that the Ministry was keeping a new terrorist group that was forming hushed up, because they didn't want to inform the public just yet. But apparently they were going the same way as Voldemort and were trying to gather ex-Death Eaters and other Pureblood sympathizers.

"I mean, we know that you're not," Ron had explained. "But if they catch wind about you and Alexander, something may happen to the two of you. They may think you have information that they could use to gain a larger following."

I had snorted in derision. "Who in their right mind would think that Voldemort passed down any knowledge to me after I publicly denounced and demoralized him in front of the entire Wizarding World, father or not?"

Harry had shaken his head and said, "They're foreign, so they're not going to know much about him. Just that he was against Muggleborns. That's enough for them."

So I was hesitant to let my daughters leave my sight if such a terrorist group was lurking about. I was terrified, in a somewhat irrational way, that they were going to snatch my daughters up and hurt them. I felt sick in the pit of my stomach every time I thought that, and memories of their childish screams for mercy came floating back to me, the sensation of tears pouring down my face, unable to rescue them.

I blinked away the sudden unbidden tears that had formed in my eyes and said firmly, "No. You are not to go shopping on your own. You're not old enough. You're coming to Diagon Alley with us."

"_But Mum-_"

"No buts!" I said warningly, brandishing my wand, which I was using to make dinner. "I don't want to hear another word on the subject."

They fell silent and I could tell that they resented my choice. It didn't matter if they resented me, just as long as my baby girls were safe. Mechanically, I put a hand on my belly, thinking again about their torture. I could feel a hand on my arm and looked up at Severus, who had concern written in his eyes. He knew what I was thinking. And I knew he was thinking it too.

I patted his hand and wordlessly began to serve dinner.

"Tobias!" I yelled, and he came pattering into the kitchen. We all sat down and began to eat, Alexander asking the twins about Hogwarts and Tobias telling Severus about the toy wand he had gotten a couple days ago. To Severus's credit, who had heard a couple hundred times already, managed to look attentive and respond appropriately. But I could tell he was looking at me.

Twelve years of marriage, and sometimes I still couldn't read him. I could have used Occlumency, but what was the point? He usually told me anyways. But-

"OW!"

I turned quickly to Tobias who I knew had screamed that and asked him, "What's wrong?"

He pointed a rather cute, chubby finger at Alexander and said, "He pinched me!"

I threw a reproving glance in his direction, and, in a manner that was most like me, I had to admit, threw his hands in the air and said, "It's his fault!"

I raised my eyebrows disbelievingly and said, "Oh really?"

Alexander then looked rather sheepish and said, "Well, kind of! He said that there was no way I could be dad's son."

I inhaled sharply and looked at Severus quickly, who, as always in this kind of situation, betrayed no emotion. I cursed him for his control, and addressed Tobias, "Well, what makes you think that?"

His forehead puckered as he clearly searched for the right words and he said, "Well, sons are supposed to look like fathers, and daughters are supposed to look like mums. Alexander doesn't look like dad."

I laughed, delighted that this was something that could be easily solved. For a moment, I had believed that Tobias had found the truth and had told Alexander, which would have been detrimental. I tucked my hair behind my ear and said, "Not necessarily honey. That doesn't happen all the time. And Alexander looks like me, which definitely means that our blood flows the same."

I was always careful not to expressly mention that I was Alexander's mother. Oh, I introduced him as my son and told people I was his mother, but when it came to matters like genealogical possibilities, I was always very careful not to state outright I was his mother. It was rather hypocritical in some aspects, but I wanted to keep my brother/son happy and safe.

"But now you have to apologize to Alexander. And Alexander, you have to do the same," Severus said quietly.

They said their humble apologies, both appeased by how the conversation went and continued on amicably, but Severus and I remained rather quiet for the rest of dinner. I could see the haunted, horrified look in his eyes that wondered what would happen if Alexander was revealed to not be our son. And I could tell that the look mirrored in my eyes.

I loved him too much to tell him who he truly came from. We didn't even tell them anything about Voldemort being their grandfather; we merely introduced my mother and father, Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy, as their grandparents and Draco as their uncle. I had made them all take a vow of silence on it.

I wondered how much longer we could go until the truth would reveal itself. Hopefully forever.

_Author's Note: It feels so good to dive back into their world! Unfortunately, I won't be able to post as religiously as I did for Caught in the Middle since I now have school to keep me busy. But I will try to update as much as I can. Thank you all again who read Caught in the Middle and wanted to read the sequel. You're all darling. :) As always, I am open to suggestions and so what, so leave a comment on what you liked/didn't like/want to see. Until next chapter! :)_

_P.S. I just kind of came up with the title, if any of you have better suggestions for it, let me know. The website required a title and I just came up with one on the spot._


	2. Chapter Two

_Alexander's face tonight was heartbreaking. It was as if he almost believed his five-year-old brother's opinions._

I bent down to get some pajamas from the bottom drawer of my mahogany colored dresser and pulled them out. I shut the drawer with my foot as I began to unbutton my robes. Katherine came sashaying in and put herself down primly at the foot of the bed, twitching the rather feminine coverlet as she did so. I hated it, and insisted that we get rid of it, and after a couple years with it, she had finally conceded. We were going to get a new one, and I would be damned if this next one was going to be as girly as the one we had now. All the flowers and other bull shit that adorned it. She watched as I undressed and gave a small sigh. I turned my face to her, raising my eyebrows suggestively as I did so, thinking she might be in the mood. She giggled and said, "I know exactly what you're thinking, and the answer is no."

I loved that giggle. Most of the time when I heard it, from insipid teenage girls talking about their latest "crush", it pained my ears. But when Katherine did it, it was rather cute. Not to mention, giggling meant she was in a good mood, something I had come to respect with the last two pregnancies. I had heard horror stories of women getting rather tetchy and moody the closer it got to the birth, and was extremely thankful Katherine was a happy pregnant woman.

Nevertheless, I was disappointed and turned around to finish undressing. She always got less and less in the mood the closer it got to giving birth. I fully understood her not wanting to, but I was going slightly mental. It had been almost two months at that point, with no end in sight. It seemed as if she read my mind, about the sigh, and said, "I sighed from tonight at dinner. It was… rather interesting."

I snorted and said, "I'll say. I don't think I'll ever get the image of your 'deer in the headlights' look out of my head."

She smacked me on the arm playfully and said, "Stop! All I'm saying is that… Well, it's come to my attention that…"

I turned around and said, "Spit it out."

Her mouth turned into a grimace and she said, "I've been thinking since dinner that we can't keep this a secret from him for forever."

I practically rolled my eyes, but refrained from doing so. Katherine, with her little girl's heart that had meant well at the time, made everyone take a vow of silence on Alexander's heritage. I didn't try to reason with her with it came to such a thing, because I knew she was fight me on it to get her way, even though I knew it was the wrong thing to do. I remembered watching Katherine be side-swiped with the news that her mother and father were not all as they seemed and was devastated to find who her true parents were. I had figured that the best course of action was to let him know as soon as possible and let him deal with the knowledge. It was probably better to grow up with it than to drop the metaphorical bomb on him so many years later, at such a pivotal point in his life.

But what was done was done. There was no changing the past. So I merely nodded and said, "You must have known deep down that you couldn't keep it from him forever."

She bit her lip in the endearing way she always had and said, "I guess I did. But I've just always loved him as my own… I just wanted him to be my own. No one else's."

I gathered her in my arms and hugged her as hard as I could briefly, sending my love telepathically. When she looked back up at me, she was grinning and said, "I promise that when this baby is here, I will make it up to you."

I smiled and said, "No rush." I kissed the top of her head and she went into the adjoining bathroom to put on a fresh nightgown and brush her teeth. When she was done with that, she crawled into bed and snuggled up to me.

Cuddling was rather hard to do, we had noticed in a growing trend over the three pregnancies, when Katherine was pregnant. She was a couple weeks from her due date, and her belly was extremely large and taut. She looked ready to burst at any moment. Anyways, her belly usually got in the way of her snuggling up to me, so I usually had to snuggle to her. This always gave her the giggles for whatever reason. I think pregnancy induced unwanted and unneeded chortling. I would have to do research.

She turned the bedside lamp off and I drifted off to sleep, my wife in my arms.

_Author's Note: Hope you guys enjoyed! As always, comment with what you liked/didn't like/want to see. Until next chapter! :)_


	3. Chapter Three

"Mum! Mum!"

I woke up to Alexander shaking me awake, already dressed and hair combed. It was a rather blurry picture though, since I was slowly awakening. I blinked several times until the picture became clearer and saw Alexander's grinning face, smile a mile wide. I grimaced at the still mostly darkened room and felt Severus stirring beside me, waking up. I propped myself up on my elbow, glanced at the clock beside the bed and saw it said 5:30. In the morning.

"Alexander, what time did you wake up?" I yawned, putting my hand over my mouth as I did so.

He considered this for a moment and then said, "About five."

I shook my head wearily and said, "Well, mummy's not ready to get up yet, sweetie."

Alexander's face fell and he said, "But I want to go to Diagon Alley now."

Severus yawned and, rather forcefully for being only half awake, said, "Not right now. You'll have to wait. Go back to sleep, or read a book."

Alexander put on his best pout face and sulked on his way out of the room. I took a deep sigh and flopped back down on the bed, Severus sleepily pulling me back in his arms as I lied there. I could feel him instantly falling asleep, his breathing becoming easier and his arms going slacker.

Sometimes when he fell asleep and did this, I was brought back rather forcefully to a boat house that was tinged with the rusty smell of blood, the feeling of life slipping through my hands. The form of a large man going limp in my arms and his breathing becoming such a small wisp of breath that it seemed no air would ever pass through his lips again. His disturbingly good imitation of death while sleeping was frightening. Sometimes when I thought about it, I cried silently and uncontrollably. Of all the things I told Severus, this wasn't one of them. He didn't know how much almost losing him had affected me.

I thought of that now and fought of the usual tears. At this point, it was about twenty minutes after six o'clock. I knew I wasn't going to get to sleep with thoughts of my husband dying pervading my mind, so I quietly got up and tip-toed from our bedroom, walking downstairs and making sure to skip the step that creaked. When I was in the living room, I was welcomed with the sight of Alexander slumped on the couch, slack-jawed with a book open in his hands, nearly falling to the floor. I chuckled and plucked the book out of his hands, setting it on the bedside table. I clumsily covered him up with a blanket we usually kept on the couch and he snuggled into it. I smiled at the sight.

I knew he would fall asleep. He wasn't ready for the day, no matter how much his nerves told him he was.

I tottered into the kitchen with my pregnant belly and wished the child would come any day. It was a cumbersome experience; the larger you got, the harder it was to walk and sit down and stand up. At times like this, it was hard to focus on the goal of the miracle of life when your back was killing you and your feet were flattened and widened. I put one of my childish hands on the small of my back, which was aching, and swore to myself that this was definitely the last child. I may have been about to be thirty, and some of my friends may have just started on their families, but I was finished.

I waddled over to the sink and started doing dishes, thinking about my friend's families. Harry and Ginny already had three children, James Sirius who was three, Albus Severus who was two, and Lily Luna who had only some months before joined this world. I suspected though that they had agreed on two things: firstly, no more children, and secondly, apparently Ginny got no say in naming her children. I shook my head at the thought of them being my _friends_. I don't know how it happened, but Severus had secretly invited Harry to our second wedding. Walking down the aisle and seeing Harry's face was more than a shock for me.

Making the unspoken truce was the first step. Over time, we had gained each other's trust back and become friends again. The flame didn't burn as brightly, but it sure burned more steadily. And Ginny. I wouldn't say I was friends with her, per se, but she was married to Harry and they were inseparable. I still didn't trust her for some reason… I think it was the eyes.

Anyways, Hermione and Ron had already had little Rose who was two years old like Albus Severus and had just recently had their second child, Hugo. I laughed to think that Ginny, Hermione and I all had children right about the same time. Surely they would all go to Hogwarts together, and I had a feeling they would all be very good friends. Along with Draco's new son, Scorpius who was due to turn one in a couple months with his new wife, Astoria Greengrass.

The twins, as clever and smart as they were, always questioned why, if I was the same age as my friends, they were so much older than the other children. They had calculated their birth back to a couple months after my sixteenth birthday and confronted me about it. That had only been last year.

I didn't know how to explain it to them. How do you tell your children it wasn't a choice you made, and that the man who forced the choice on you was now married to you and you were madly in love with him? And how, in that messy explanation, could you intimate to them that having a baby at that age isn't the best idea, that it's always better to wait?

I considered telling them that I was too in love with their father and wanted to start a family right away, too enamored to care about how old I was at having a baby. But as we all knew, that was a big fat lie. And would probably encourage the wrong idea. But how do you tell your children that carrying them, on the whole, was a scary experience?

So I told them, very carefully, that my father had "betrothed" me to Severus and, foreseeing the war, did not want to wait to see if we would survive it, so he made us marry, even though I was very young. Out of the marriage came the two of them, and I was loathe to do away with them, no matter what the circumstances. I didn't think I would ever be able to tell my children about their sordid beginning.

And, always in their clever way, noticing Alexander was only a year younger than them, questioned me about it. I felt sick when I had to lie once again and tell them that the same thing happened. I could see the disbelief in their eyes, the question of "didn't they learn their lesson the first time?". But it was better than them knowing how they really came about. And that was something I definitely was not going to divulge.

But Alexander. He was a different case. Though he looked like me, I could not keep this a secret forever. There were people who knew me, knew I had a son named Alexander, but didn't know how old he was. When they saw he was this old, they would count back the years and place his birth in my sixth year. And as public as I was my sixth year, no one saw me pregnant. People would put two and two together, and someone would let slip to Alexander. Better it came from us than from some careless child at Hogwarts, right?

After I finished the dishes, I began to rouse my children and husband, starting with the Alexander who was sleeping on the couch and turned away sleepily from my touch. I woke up the twins and Severus who slept up stairs and worked my way down the stairs to the ground level room that Alexander and Tobias shared. I woke up Tobias who stretched and then burrowed himself under the covers, unable to address the day just yet. I shrugged and went back into the kitchen; I knew that when he smelled bacon, he would come running immediately.

Severus lumbered into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes aggressively, and a little hunched over. I snickered at the sight of him; Severus disheveled and bleary eyed was definitely a sight I had never gotten over, the immaculate Potions Master still my vivid impression of him. I wondered just how many people had seen him like this, and figured probably not many; I felt honored, in a weird way, that I got to see him at the beginning of the morning, when he didn't look his best. It was a sign that he was comfortable enough with me.

He scowled mightily and growled, "What are you laughing at woman?"

I pointed a spatula directly at his heart and said offendedly, "For the last time, don't call me 'woman'. I hate that term when it's used in such a derogatory manner. If you say it again, you shan't get any breakfast."

His scowl softened and I said, "By the way, I was laughing at how you looked. Twelve years and I still can't get over it."

He grinned slightly, for he knew my train of thought on his morning appearance. He looked at me concernedly and said, "How long have you been up?"

I hummed as my brain sluggishly thought for the answer. Just how long had I been up? Unable to come up with a precise amount of time, I just shrugged and said, "Since Alexander woke us up. I couldn't go back to sleep."

At this, he grabbed the spatula out of my hand, to my protesting since it was a rather rude and sudden gesture. He looked me in the eyes and said, "How much of that time have you been on your feet?"

It was a simple question with a simple answer, one I didn't want to give because I knew he would fuss at me. Reading my silence well, he pinched the bridge of his nose and said, "Sit down. I'll do breakfast."

I sank into a chair and instantly felt grateful. I didn't know how much I had needed to sit down until my bum hit the seat, taking the pressure off my back and feet. It was wonderful.

"You'll be the death of me. You do too much when you're pregnant."

I pouted and said, "I hardly think that washing the dishes, making breakfast and waking my family up is too much. I think that getting on my hands and knees and scrubbing every inch of the house is excessive, but not what I usually do."

He stoically didn't answer and I sighed and leaned back. Severus wanted to coddle me during my pregnancies, wanted me to always be resting and not have to do anything. And while I enjoyed the attention, I resented it, because it was almost like putting me on bed rest for two thirds of my pregnancy. With Tobias, he had tried to persuade me to take a leave of absence half-way through the school year because he thought standing on my feet all day and teaching wasn't good for me or the baby. I told him over my dead body was I going to abandon my post because I was pregnant, and told him to get over it. He had tried to do the same thing this time, but I nipped it in the bud. Besides, the new baby was about two months later in the year than Tobias, which meant I wasn't pregnant as much during the school year as last time, a good thing.

He glanced over his shoulder and said, "Look, if I tell you a secret, will you promise to stop mentally killing me in your head?"

I shifted uncomfortably at his choice of words and said, "Maybe."

He smiled slightly and said, "Pomona is retiring after the term. She won't be coming back after Christmas."

I gasped, and lifted my hands to my mouth in surprise. I couldn't believe that Professor Sprout was leaving Hogwarts! I tripped over my next words, eager to get them out.

"Well then what, I mean, who, will be the new teacher?" I blurted.

He gave me a mischievous smile and said, "Someone you went to school with and I think would rather enjoy your company."

I considered this for a moment and then it clicked. Who was the best at Herbology in my year? Only one person.

I bolted upright in my chair and said, "_Neville? You hired Neville?_ But you despise him!"

He sighed and said, "Not truly. I just… Well, even if I did, as Headmaster, I have to make a decision that's best for everyone. He's likeable, so students and teachers will get along well with him. And he knows his stuff."

I sat back in wonder, surprised by such a revelation. Severus hire Neville? He must have had an aneurism, or I completely forgot all the years of wonderful treatment and love Severus gave Neville. I was strongly pulled towards the former.

I shrugged and Severus put bacon to the pan, making it sizzle and pop. Not thirty seconds later, Tobias came running into the kitchen, tousled hair and rumpled pajamas. He stumbled slightly and his nose was thrust into the air as he sniffed the frying pork. It was uncanny how fast he could run when bacon was on the line.

I smirked slightly, my hand resting on my stomach. Tobias sat down in a chair next to me and must have thought I looked tired, because he asked, "Are you ok mummy?"

I smiled and said, "Of course! I'm just hungry."

His face brightened up at such an easy fix and said, "Well, dad's making breakfast right now!"

I ruffled his hair and grinned at his sweetness. He was such an adorable child, a little pudgy for his age, and full of sugar. However, like his father, if he wanted words to sting, they could be venom. I honestly believed that Tobias would have been exactly like Severus, had it not been for the fact that Tobias was being raised in a home that hugged him and loved on him a lot, rather than the one that Severus grew up in, with beatings and tongue-lashings.

Posy walked in, straightening the glasses that were perched on her nose and sniffing the air for bacon much as her brother had. I could almost hear her stomach growl in response to the smells that were attacking her nostrils. And then Melanie walked in, messy, black, curly hair pulled back into a ribbon, whereas Posy had seen fit to leave hers down in a tangled mess. Melanie sat down at the table and opened the book she had in her hands, always reading. I frequently had to tell her to put her books away at the table, or at other times that she wanted to curl up with a book, but it was inappropriate. If I was grounding her, the first thing to go were the books.

However, Posy was a different story. Having an interest in Muggle things like me, Posy had begged to have this new Muggle invention called a cell phone. It was apparently a portable landline that could fit in your jeans pocket, and you could do this thing called texting on it. Posy wanted to be able to text her Muggleborn friends and I wanted to study it to teach the technology to my classes, so we had to beg and plead with Severus to get ourselves phones. It was actually pretty cool because we got these newer, cooler phones called iPhones made by a company called Apple. Half the time they were useless because we were at the school, but they were pretty cool to have to study and whatnot.

But when Posy put a toe over the line, I took away her cell phone. She would become extremely indignant and yell and cry to try and get her phone back. Which was when I left the room and had Severus deal with her, since I couldn't handle crying all that much. Well, from my children. But Severus was like a rock when it came to such things, and I always wished I had his resolve.

Lastly, Alexander came in, as bright and fresh as he had looked when he was standing expectantly by our bedside. He too plopped down into a chair as Posy thumped plates down on the table, texting the entire time with her friends. I was a little miffed that she couldn't separate herself from her phone long enough to set the table and said irritably, "Can't you put the phone away for two minutes?"

She scowled at me in the way teenagers do and I raised my eyebrows at her to reprove. Nevertheless, she stuffed her phone in the back pocket of her denims and hurried placing the table with gusto so she could whip her phone back out and text once more. I shook my head at her antics and Severus put a plate under my nose. Suddenly extremely hungry, I tucked in with vigor, everyone else at the table following suit.

I finished quickly, finding that most of them weren't even half-way done yet. I knew I ate much faster when I was pregnant, for some weird reason, and I could see Severus staring into his pancakes and mentally smirking my way. I mentally stuck my tongue out at him and got up from the table.

Melanie was still reading her book, and I plucked the book from her hands, her silently protesting with her eyes. I picked up the bookmark from the table and placed it where her page was, saying, "You know the rules. No books at the table."

She pouted and then resumed eating. I traipsed from the kitchen and made my way up the stairs, thunking myself down on my bed when I got to my room because climbing them tired me out so easily. I pushed my riotous curls out of my face and bent down to get a stretchy dress out of my dresser, my stomach impeding me. Again, I wished the child would come soon.

We knew it was a girl, but Severus and I had been fighting tooth and nail over what to name her. I argued that I had had no say in naming any of my children, since Severus Tobias was not imaginative, Alexander was spoken for by Bellatrix, and Posy and Melanie were decided upon by Severus. But Severus countered that Severus Tobias had been MY idea and that he was the one who had to relent to the name after I was so belligerent, and I had agreed upon Posy and Melanie with no problem. I claimed it was because I had been hopped up on drugs after birth and wasn't of sound mind enough to object. And then he proposed that if I hated the names so much, we could go and get them legally changed. And when I protested to that, that I still thought they were lovely names, he would say, "Well that's that," and our conversation would be over. So, so far we hadn't been able to reach a decision, a compromise.

It bothered me that we had no name yet for our child. We had had one at the ready and agreed upon with our other son, the one who had come before this one and after Tobias, but who had sadly been stillborn, and I felt like we should be as prepared for this new baby as we had been for the last.

When I pointed this out to Severus, he would get a pained look on his face and wouldn't even speak to me for hours on end; he would shut himself up in his home laboratory and work until it was time to go to bed. I think that in some ways, the stillborn son had affected him more than it had me. And it disturbed me to think that.

Hadn't I carried the baby all those months, growing closer to it than Severus should have, since I was more intimately connected to it? Shouldn't I have been more pained than he that the child I had nurtured for nine months in my womb had been killed by an unfortunate rupturing of the placenta?

I gripped my belly and begged God to not give me another child like little Christopher. I didn't want to have to go through the pain, the agony. The feeling of my soul being rent in two, the sobbing as I held my son to me, lifeless in my arms, unable to have the chance to live as my other children did.

I admit that for some days afterwards, I did not eat, sleep or talk to my children. In a way that scares me more than anything, I hated and resented my children for having life, for breathing, talking, laughing and smiling, even crying in the way that Christopher never would. It ended though when Tobias came to my room, crying because he thought I didn't love him anymore from my lack of communication. He didn't understand why I was so cold, for he was only two at the time. And then, I realized I could give my children all the love I would have given Christopher; just because I had never been given the chance to shower him with kisses and hugs, didn't mean I had to withdraw such affection from my surviving children.

And now with little Susan Irene, for I was determined to name her that, it was like a fresh start. I knew however, that I would see my little Christopher someday again, when God ordained it.

I busied myself getting ready for the day and Severus slipped inside the room, pulling off his nightshirt as he did. He went into the bathroom that was connected to our bedroom and brushed his teeth and combed out his hair as I tugged my dress over my extremely large belly and went to join him.

I picked up my hairbrush and began to wrestle with the curls, never fully used to them going all over the place. Hair was ever a mystery to me, and I didn't intend to spend a lifetime on solving that mystery. So I usually let it hang loose or pulled it back, much like Melanie. However, Posy had, on some occasions, been able to coax her hair into lengthy, stick-straight locks. I was amazed at my own daughter's prowess when it came to such an unagreeable creature as her hair.

Severus looked over at me and said, "So, what were you thinking about? You were sitting rather still and staring off into space when I walked into the room."

I cast about for an answer, one that wouldn't upset him as much as talking about Christopher, and invented wildly, "I was wondering about Alexander's wand. What it'll be like."

But he read the lie in my eyes, as he always had been able to. I cursed myself for being such a horrible liar, and then cursed him for being able to read me so well. It was either one, the other, or a combination of the two that kept me from hiding anything from him.

"You were thinking about Christopher," he stated flatly. Unable to articulate, I nodded and ducked my head down next to the sink as I began to brush my teeth. He stalked from the room, and I spit to call out to him, "It's not my fault! You brought him up this time!"

He closed the door to our bedroom and I knew innately that he had retreated into his cave, his stronghold against the emotions he didn't want to feel. I kicked the furniture, lashing out because Severus infuriated me so when he acted this way. And then I felt guilty for being angry at a man who merely felt grief.

I finished getting ready and hurried, as fast as my pregnant body would allow me, down the stairs to collect my children. Alexander was standing near the front door, ready to go and nearly quivering with excitement. I went in search of Tobias, who had, for once, actually picked out appropriate clothes that matched. I fussed with his hair and asked him repeatedly if he had brushed his teeth. After responding, "Yes mum," in an exasperated voice for the third time, I led him to the door and yelled up the stairs, "Posy! Melanie! We're leaving right now!"

I heard protests from above, one saying that they weren't ready, and one saying they wanted to finish the chapter in their book, they only had five more pages. I lumbered over to Severus's lab and pounded on the door with the blunt side of my fist, and called, "You can't lock yourself in all day, we have things to do."

I went to stand by the door, and waited for my family, Severus coming first and looking annoyed that I had noticed a growing trend of how often he locked himself in his study when Christopher was mentioned. And then came Posy, complaining slightly that she had no time to put on her mascara, but brightened herself at the thought that there would probably not be Hogwarts boys at Diagon Alley that day.

And lastly Melanie, who came running down the stairs, eyes glue to the page in her book and she slammed it closed with a satisfied look on her face as she proclaimed that she had finished the chapter and she was ready.

I walked out the door, Tobias in hand, and we hailed the Knight Bus, ready to greet the day.

_Author's Note: Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! As always, comment on what you liked/didn't like/want to see. Until next chapter! :)_


	4. Chapter Four

Diagon Alley was atrocious.

People were bustling about, selling, buying, some talking in hushed tones about the 10 year anniversary of the end of the Second Wizarding War, others loudly exulting Harry Potter for his hand in the end. I couldn't believe it. It was three months later, after the actual anniversary, and people were still agog about it.

I shook my head at such nonsense and was glad that Harry, Hermione and Ron were not there to see it. They would have all been miffed at such a display, for none of them had wanted to gain such a feverish fame. Well, possibly Ron, but he wanted to gain it in other ways, not because he had simply been the best friend of the Chosen One.

Sometimes I felt for Ron, the one who always seemed in the shadow of the great Harry Potter, and the brilliant Hermione Granger. But the feeling hadn't plagued me for quite some time, possibly because he now seemed extremely content in his role in this world. He was partner to his brother George in the joke shop, and was still amazed he had landed Hermione.

I remembered their wedding day. Shortly before the ceremony, I had left the bride, as a good matron of honor should never have done, and visited Ron and the best man, Harry, to make sure the two of them were alright.

Ron had been pacing about the room, worried that Hermione might change her mind and call off the wedding. It broke my heart to see him in such a state; it wasn't that he didn't have faith in Hermione loving him, it was that he didn't have faith enough in himself to be able to keep her.

"Ron, don't be such a prat," Harry had said. "She's been in love with you for years. She's not going to call off the wedding; her feelings aren't going to change."

"But your feelings changed!" Ron shot back at Harry. "About my sister! You never saw her as more than a little girl and then you fell in love with her. What if the same thing happens to Hermione, but in reverse?"

I rolled my eyes at his antics, and looked over at Harry, who seemed at a loss of what to say. Granted he had gone and got himself married already, and had wedding jitters, but none as intense as these, so he had no idea how to deal with Ron.

I walked over to Ron and planted my hands firmly on his shoulders, having to stretch my arms because he was much taller than I. He stopped pacing and looked me in the eyes, his chocolate brown ones seeking mine. I quirked my eyebrows and asked, "Do you love her?"

He made an offended noise and made to brush my hands away. "Of course I do."

I lifted my hands and said, "Then there you have it. That's all she's ever wanted you to do. Love her."

Ron was steadied by that and looked rather relieved and grateful. I stood on tiptoe and gave him a kiss on the cheek, wishing him good luck and then headed back to Hermione.

Hermione had looked stunning on her wedding day. Her hair was pulled into the most marvelous updo, courtesy of Fleur who was excited to have Hermione as a sister in-law. When Fleur had declared that, and then left the room, Hermione looked rather pink in the face and confessed that she had now felt bad for snubbing Fleur so many times and insulting her with Ginny behind her back. I was perplexed as to why Hermione would; Fleur seemed like a perfectly sweet person. But then again, I hadn't spent as much time with her as Hermione had, and maybe, before her marriage to Bill, she had been intolerable.

I shrugged and Ginny fussed with her make-up while I hung back in the shadows. What a great matron of honor I was. I couldn't do hair, make-up, and I had arrived so late that I couldn't help her into her wedding dress, because Tobias, a year old then, had made a fuss getting there.

I confessed to Hermione that I felt useless when everyone was gone save us, and she laughed with me, saying that she felt as helpless as I felt useless. Neither of us never being the very vain sort, nor even slightly attracted to dolling ourselves up every day, we had never truly mastered the arts of such things. Of course I had had to by necessity, as declared by my mother, but by then I was so out of practice, having put my foot down years before on make-up and hair, I didn't trust myself. We laughed and shared a few moments together before she was whisked away to be walked down the aisle by her father.

Usually moved by such things, I found myself shockingly dry-eyed during the whole ceremony. I supposed it was my heart's way of trying to commit everything to memory without the veil of tears.

Anyways, back to Diagon Alley.

Alexander, itching for his wand, started pulling me in the direction of Ollivander's, but I stayed him with a firm hand.

"Not yet," I said firmly. "We need to get you fitted with robes first, and Madame Malkin's is much closer than Twilfitt and Tattings, so we'll go there."

Alexander seemed disappointed, but took it in stride. Posy and Melanie complained, however.

"Mum, we don't want to wait forever in the robe shop for Alexander to be fitted! Can't we go with dad and get books for all three of us while you guys do that?"

I looked at Severus who seemed tired already. The sooner shopping was over, the sooner we could go home.

"Alright, the two of you can go with your father, and I'll go with Alexander and Tobias. We can meet up at the joke shop," I said, looking slyly in Severus's direction. He hated the shop with a passion, but Alexander and Tobias loved every inch of it. Posy, a little too boy crazy for merely twelve years old, liked to sigh over the love potions.

"I want to go with dad though," Tobias supplied, and arrangements were made for Alexander and I to go to Madame Malkin's while Severus, Posy, Melanie, and Tobias shopped for books.

We fought our way up the busy street and eventually reached Madame Malkin's, the door clanging noisily behind us. I sighed with relief and immediately sat down in a chair by the door, grateful for the cool air inside.

"Are you ok mum?" Alexander asked as I was fanning my face. The baby gave a mighty kick and I grimaced. "Yes I am. Just don't tell your father, or he won't ever let me leave the house."

Alexander grinned, an endearing trait of his, at my remark. It had been a longstanding joke between the two of us how mental Severus became when I was pregnant, and he vowed to keep my secrets of "working too hard" from Severus. It was amazing how much I could connect with this little boy, this brother who was so wise and mature beyond his years, this son who seemed to understand me almost as much as my own husband did.

"Hogwarts child, hm? Well, let's get you up here and fitted," Madame Malkin said, turning the corner. And following her was the rankest woman I had never wanted to see again, Rita Skeeter.

Rita Skeeter, the woman who wrote half-truths and embellished every story she wrote like her life depended on it. Hermione hated her with a burning passion, and for her sake, I had too during the Tri-Wizard Tournament where she had made Hermione out to be a floozy on an international level. My blood boiled with her lies every time I saw her. And the last time I had, was a couple days after the Battle of Hogwarts.

She had rung the doorbell to Spinners End as I was making lunch for the girls before I sent them over to Malfoy Manor so I could visit Severus. I had opened the door and she had stuck her foot on the inside, pushing the door open as annoying reporters do. She welcomed herself into my home with me saying a word and plopped herself down on a couch, surveying the accommodations with distaste.

I had eyed her suspiciously and sat down in the loveseat that faced her, ready to do battle.

"So, how is your dear husband doing?" she had asked, all sugar.

"Just fine, thank you," I said in a clipped voice, hoping she would get the message. She didn't.

"Truly? Well that's good to know, all the Wizarding World was sitting on the edge of their seats to know if this tragic love hero was going to pull through or not. They said his love for Lily Evans eclipsed all others-"

"Rita," I said, interrupting her. She looked offended. I plowed on. "Let's get to the real reason why you're here."

She sized me up and asked, "Why haven't you been arrested? You were his daughter."

I laughed at her ignorance. "Of course I was his daughter you dimwit. That doesn't mean I was like him or supported him. In fact, I left my husband and children behind to fight for the cause. That's why I'm not in jail."

And then I kindly showed her out, if kindly meant shoving her out of the door and telling her not to darken my doorstep again. Soon after she had wrote an article, a "tell-all", where I "confessed" that I found out about Lily and, so upset that my husband pined for a dead woman and loved her more than I, was driven into the arms of Harry Potter, leaving my two children behind and making me out to be a horrible mother for putting my heart above my children's needs. This was a second article, one after one that told them about the fact I was married off to my Potion's Master at age 15, when I was a fourth year, and had his children at age 16. We couldn't change how old the twins were, and how old I was when I had them, but Severus and I lied through our teeth to the Wizarding World and told them the marriage had come first. Somehow, it just seemed to redeem ourselves slightly. But Rita Skeeter, ever the clever woman for gossip, had found I had dated Harry fourth year and had a field day with my supposed "infidelity" to my husband, having his children while romping with the Chosen One.

For years afterward, everyone was convinced that Harry and I were secret lovers, and strangers had actually owled Ginny before her wedding to Harry, telling her that marrying him was folly since he was still attached to me and me to him. Ginny, in good faith, had ignored the impertinent letters and threw them in the garbage, telling Harry and I that she never once suspected the two of us having any such relations.

I burned both articles when I read them, and was incensed with a most unnatural fury. I claimed I would have my revenge.

The fury had worn off though, and now I just wanted to avoid her to keep from further damaging me in the eyes of the Wizarding World. She sighted me and her gaze immediately fell on my distended abdomen. Then her eyes met mine and she forced out a brilliant smile.

"Katherine Snape, I declare you look radiant today!" she said, beaming as she took out her Quick-Quotes Quill. I felt disgusted at the item and said, "No need for that today Rita. You're not getting another article out of me."

She smiled in that rather seductive way of hers. Not a "come to bed" seductive, but a "please tell me" seductive.

"Very well," she said, stashing her quill and notepad into her bag. "What brings you here today? Here to get some robes let out?"

I refused to let her comment about my weight get to me; I was pregnant for God's sake! I answered as icily as I could, "I'm here with my son today, thank you."

Her eyes widened and she said, "Son? I didn't know you had a son."

"Two," I said absentmindedly, for now I was watching Alexander who had come out of the dressing room and was wearing a robe that fit him near perfectly. Madame Malkin began pinning it up.

"How old?" she asked, intrigued, and I barely knew that she had taken her quill out again and was writing something down.

"Five and eleven," I said, unthinkingly. And then I clapped my hand to my mouth, staring at her in horror. And her eyes gleamed wickedly with such a dirty piece of gossip.

"Funny," she began, "that would place this little boy's birth around a year before the war ended. I don't remember you having a little boy at the war's end."

I heaved my ungainly form up off the chair and got near nose-to-nose with her.

"You run such an article with such blatant lies as the two you did last time, and I swear it'll be the end of your career. I have a friend who's a lawyer; she can help me."

Her eyes danced with the hunger of a new article, a fresh piece on Voldemort's daughter and just one more way her life was screwed up.

"Oh dearie, I don't think unemployment bothers me as much as a secret loosed bothers you," she said blithely. And with that, she swept from the store. My heart froze in my chest, and my face took on a look of sheer terror. Alexander, ever so in tune with what I was feeling, said, "Mum? Did that woman bother you?"

I shook myself mentally and plastered a smile on my face, saying, "Of course not! Are you all finished with your robe fitting darling?"

He grinned and held his arms out to the side, rotating so I could see him in his finery. I clapped and said, "Thank you Madame Malkin! We'll take the robes."

We purchased the clothing items and left the store, making our way to the joke shop. After a hasty perusal that left Severus in an extremely bad mood, we hurried over to Potage's Cauldron Shop.

Severus relaxed as soon as we entered the doors and the owner greeted him cordially. And then Severus began the lecture he had given the girls the year before about cauldrons and phials with Alexander. I rolled my eyes and started walking through the shop, taking in some of the fantastic new models.

And then I heard a woman cry out my husband's name.

"Severus!"

I whipped my head around and saw an extremely attractive woman bustle through the store to greet him. I could tell he had never met the woman before by the shocked expression on his face. I made my way over to him as she said, "Don't you remember me?"

I surveyed this woman, taking in every inch of her. She was slightly younger than Severus, with platinum blonde hair and peach colored lips. Her shoes were rather dramatic to be walking around in Diagon Alley, and her clothes were clearly Muggle.

"No, I'm sorry I don't," Severus said stiffly.

"Oh well, of course you wouldn't. It was so long ago-"

"Excuse me," I said, interrupting her. "But who did you say you were again?"

She glowed and said, "Oh, this must be your wife! With your-"

She counted the various offspring we had and said, "fifth child!"

I narrowed my eyes and said, "I believe you didn't answer my question. Who are you?"

I didn't like how casually she was addressing Severus, like an old friend. And I didn't like the way he didn't remember her.

"Oh, my name is Kristy," she said, beaming. Severus froze and I turned to him.

"Severus- who is Kristy?" I asked in a dangerous voice. I had a feeling she might have been a one night stand from before we were together, but the nerve of that woman addressing him the way she did when we were married and had children!

"Katherine, let me explain-" he said before she cut him off by loudly exclaiming over a boy of about ten who bounded to her side.

"Aw darling, I promise, next year when you go to Hogwarts, you can have the best cauldron!"

The boy was rather scrawny, with dark curtains of hair that framed his face. His complexion was sallow and his nose rather straight. Other than the nose, he bore a huge resemblance to-

"Severus!" I whispered in agony. He looked like a ten-year-old version of Severus. I looked over at him in horror, and he looked as if he wished to die. Ten years old… But we had been married for twelve… He had cheated on me?

Of course! The night he said he cheated and then explained he "hadn't" must have been a huge lie. Looks wise, there was no denying that this was Severus's child. My heart twisted in agony. It all made sense.

"Katherine, I can explain," he said desperately, clutching at my arm.

"Don't try!" I snapped, suddenly fighting back tears. "I can't believe you! You- you did this to me! Have I not been a good wife, faithful and sweet? Bore your children, comforted you, worked alongside you as teacher and parent? Is that not enough?"

I didn't dare go into too much detail about his infidelity in front of my children, but at that moment I wrenched my arm from his grasp and instructed Posy, Melanie and Tobias to come with me. I reached the front door and said, "We are going home. Please get the rest of the things on the school list and get Alexander his wand. I'll be waiting to discuss this with you later."

I stormed from the shop in a fit of rage. We left the Leaky Cauldron and I blindly hailed the Knight Bus, ready to go home and bury my face in my pillow from my sorrow.

_Author's Note: Dun dun dun. As always, comment on what you liked/didn't like/want to see. Until next chapter! :)_


	5. Chapter Five

I stood in shock and watched my wife leave the store, completely infuriated and broken hearted. She didn't understand; hell, I didn't even understand! I turned to Kristy and said, "We need to talk. Now."

She nodded and called her own son to her as I did to mine. I heard her call him Chase. We exited the rather dim shop and stepped into the bright light of Diagon Alley. But without Katherine at my side, it seemed rather dreary. I motioned for Kristy to follow me and she did. We weaved through the streets until we reached Florean Fortescue's Icecream Parlor. I gave both boys money and told them to eat to their hearts content. They glowed and scampered off with their treasure as I sat down with Kristy.

"Explain," I commanded, wanting to know the truth.

She sighed and began her lengthy explanation.

"I assume you don't remember much from that night, mostly because you had so much to drink; plenty at the bar and plenty when we got back to my place. I did intend on seducing you, dark men like you have always attracted me."

She paused and looked at her hands which were clasped in front of her, blushing slightly.

"You wouldn't stop talking about your wife, and I… I promised I could make you forget her. It was something I had done plenty of times before, but for some reason, when I became pregnant with Chase, I realized how low it was and stopped."

I gazed into her eyes, which were a dark brown. Chase and Alexander popped up in front of us and demanded a seat.

"Darling, I have things to discuss. You guys can go get a table of your own," she said, smiling sweetly. They nodded and went off, chatting amiably. But before they had left, I had noticed something peculiar.

"Chase's eyes," I said, "they're bright blue. Where did those come from?"

She stared at me and said, "I suppose then that there's no need to tell you that Chase is your son."

I snorted derisively and said, "A blind man could have seen that."

She looked pained and said, "I didn't like who I was before Chase. And you were the last man I convinced to crawl into bed with me, truly. I knew there was a big chance that you wouldn't remember if we did or not, so I lied and said that we hadn't. I had a feeling that it would destroy you if you knew the truth."

My heart turned to stone as I said, "You were right."

Her hand grasped mine and she said, "I know this is probably a lot for you to process."

"You still haven't answered my question," I said. "Chase has blue eyes. You and I have dark eyes."

She smiled and said, "His grandfather has blue eyes, I've always assumed that's where they came from."

My heart beat furiously with my betrayal to Katherine, but I wanted solid evidence.

"I want a paternity test done," I said bluntly. She nodded silently. I hadn't expected on her agreeing so readily. She must have been really convinced it was my kid.

I swallowed hard and said, "How do you even know about Diagon Alley? You would have recognized me that night if you were a witch, so I know you're a Muggle."

She seemed perplexed and said, "Really? You're famous in the Wizarding World?"

I didn't want her to know that, for whatever reason, and said, "Never mind. How do you know about Diagon Alley?"

Her eyes sparkled and she said, "When Chase was about two years old, I found the man of my dreams. He was smart, sensitive, handsome, and really clicked with Chase. We got married and we've been together for almost seven years now. Chase adores him, and we've never told him he has a different father because Abraxas looks so much like him. It's uncanny."

She paused to take a breath and said, "About a year into our marriage, Abraxas told me he was a wizard. He said he only told me because he had seen displays of Chase's magic. He sat down and told me all I needed to know. About Hogwarts, Diagon Alley, the Wizarding War. I came here today because Abraxas needed some more phials. He's brought me here enough times, so I know how to get here. Chase wanted to come along."

She looked over at the boys fondly and I looked over too. I noticed subtle differences between me and Chase as I studied him.

His cheekbones were much higher than mine that was for sure. And the complexion I had thought sallow wasn't as much so, but much lighter. His hair was not stick straight, as mine was, but had a slight wave. He was scrawny, like me though, and his nose was rather straight. In fact, looking upon him, he didn't look as much like me as I had thought in the first place. There was definitely a resemblance, but he wasn't a carbon copy of me like Tobias was. And I figured if I had a son, he would look exactly like me like Tobias did, right?

I sighed. It wasn't worth ruminating over the little differences. They wouldn't matter in the end if he turned out to be my son or not. I prayed he wasn't.

_Author's Note: Sorry this chapter is rather short, but I think it explains everything. As always, comment on what you liked/didn't like/want to see. Until next chapter! :)_


	6. Chapter Six

Through my veil of grief, I could hear the front door shut and the patter of an eleven-year-old's feet running to his room to stash his belongings. I heard heavy feet trudging up the stairs, stopping at a room right next to the one Severus and I shared, the twin's room. I heard them say thanks for getting their school supplies. And then the feet came to me.

I flinched every time the foot fell on the floor, and held my breath in anticipation when the door began to creak open. A nose popped through the crack, followed by the rest of Severus's face. I turned away so he wouldn't know I had been crying. I was too proud to let him know I had shed tears over him.

I heard a deep sigh and the door opened even farther, shedding light on the darkened room.

"It's no use Katherine; I know."

My brow furrowed and I closed my eyes for a millisecond. I opened them and turned to Severus, hoping I had wiped my face clean of emotion.

My eyes settled on something I had never seen before. Severus offering flowers.

Instantly my face pulled into a confused stare. "What in the world are you giving me flowers for?"

He kind of looked at them for a minute and then shrugged. "I thought it was social protocol in a marriage. The husband screws up, and he buys the wife flowers."

My eyebrows pulled down close to my eyes, and I said, "So you admit to it? He's your son?"

"Now that I don't know for sure," he said, putting the flowers down and rushing to my side, taking my hands in his. Mine felt like ice. His felt warm and sweaty.

"Will you let me explain?" he asked quietly.

I reclaimed my hands and pushed myself up off the bed, not wanting to be next to him at the moment. My feet blindly moved me to stand near the door to our bedroom. I rested my head against the frame and took a couple calming breaths.

That he had lied to me, that he had "stepped out" on me, that he was now father to another woman's child… It was all too much too bear! I took a deep breath and turned to him. He was still sitting on the bed, looking at me expectantly.

"I won't say I'll forgive you. But I'll listen."

He rubbed his temples and put his face in his hands for a couple minutes, obviously contemplating what to say next.

"That night… I got drunk. Really drunk. I couldn't remember anything, and I woke up to a note from that woman saying that we didn't do anything. So all these years, I really have believed that nothing happened," he said slowly.

I huffed and crossed my arms. Well, that was one thing that he wasn't wrong for. But…

"Is she a witch?" I asked. He shook his head no.

"How does she know about our world then?"

He got up from the bed and started leisurely walking over to me, but in an extremely tense fashion. I hadn't seen him this worked up since the war.

"Apparently she now has a wizard husband who told her that her son is a wizard. He sent her to Diagon Alley to get something," he said.

A cold electric shock ripped through my body. Her son was a wizard and looked like Severus. And he said that there wasn't any way to be sure about him being his son? I pointed this out and he shook his head.

"I'm getting a paternity test," he explained.

"Oh get real Severus!" I cried, staring him dead in the eyes. "A Muggle woman has a ten year old wizard son. Who looks just like you. Seriously, how many wizards do you think she hooks up with in a week? There aren't that many of us compared to the rest of England's population!"

He flinched and I could see this was hurting him. Well, it hurt me too.

"You sought another woman," I whispered. "I know I'm not the most tolerable of women, or the most beautiful, but I am your wife. We took vows, we love each other. And I would hope that no amount of alcohol could make you forget that. Obviously I was wrong."

"You're not wrong!" he said desperately, obviously wanting to make this right. And it hurt to not forgive him, to give him the benefit of the doubt. I knew I had done some pretty horrible things, but this, what he did, topped whatever I did in the past. This was too much to bear.

I took a deep breath and placed my hand against my forehead, feeling a headache coming on from all the crying I had done.

"I'm going to make some tea," I said quietly, and walked downstairs to do so.

_Author's Note: I feel like a horrible person for not getting this out sooner, but seriously, school is killing me. I have not forgotten about you guys! Promise! And I shall continue Katherine and Severus's story until the ending I have planned! I shall not neglect to finish it! Please pardon me for the extremely late update, and I hope I still have some followers after such a long period… Anywho, comment on what you liked/didn't like/want to see. Until next chapter! :)_


	7. Chapter Seven

_Author's Note: I don't think you guys understand how SUPER SUPER SUPER SORRY I am for not updating in so long. I know with CITM I was updating like once a day, but Senior year took over my life, boys, nonsense, and the worst writers block that I think has ever hit anyone in all of time itself. I feel horribly guilty for waiting so long, that coupled with the fact that this is a shoddy chapter. Ugh. I hope you guys enjoy it anyways. At the end, don't forget to comment your ideas and what you liked or didn't like. :)_

The kettle screamed and it pained my ears. I screwed my eyes shut and reached out blindly to where I knew the kettle was to take it off the heat. I opened my eyes and looked at the heated metal, seeing my puffy-eyes reflection in it.

I was completely alone.

The children had wanted to go to grandmother and grandfather's house for the afternoon and Severus took them. I didn't know if he stayed with them or if he went out somewhere else. I didn't care.

It had to have been the most complete solitary moment since I got married and had the twins. The house was still and quiet and peaceful. In fact, too peaceful. I steeped the tea and thought about Severus. The man infuriated me to no end. When I felt a twisting in my gut, I forced myself to think about other things. I remembered expressing a faint interest in Alexander's wand earlier and, bringing my cup of tea, went to his room to find it.

I opened the door and the overwhelming mess on Tobias's side of the room reminded me to get him to clean it later that day. I went to Alexander's much cleaner side of the room and wondered at how immaculate it was. I sat down on his bed and reached for the small pile of things he had dumped on it. I instantly found the slim box that contained an Ollivander wand and opened it.

It was a rather sturdy looking wand, with hardly any trimmings. It was simple, plain, and a good length. In short, it looked very much like a wand that would have chosen Alexander. I took the wand from the box and felt it in my hands. It felt cold and alien compared to my own wand which felt like it warmed my hand all the way to my fingertips. I hastily put it back and got up off the bed, resolving to find a book to try and take my mind off of things.

Too soon my children came back from my parent's house, with Severus chaperoning them. Tobias ran into the house, yelling about some sweets Draco gave him, who apparently had been visiting as well. Melanie and Posy smiled lightly at their little brother's antics and went off into their own little world, while Alexander had his nose in a book I knew he had snagged off the shelf of the room that used to be mine as a little girl in my parent's house. Soon, Severus and I were alone.

He cleared his throat, obviously not wanting to say anything, possibly for fear of saying the wrong thing or for feeling guilty still for the situation. I started to turn away and walk up the stairs when I heard a door shut behind me. I turned around slowly and saw that Severus was gone. A soft "pop!" from outside told me he must have apparated. I stood there for a moment, slightly shocked and stunned that he left without a word and returned down the stairs to make dinner for my children.

That night I went to bed completely alone and cried myself to sleep.


	8. Chapter Eight

The day after the visit to Diagon Alley, I was all alone. Not technically, but Severus still hadn't returned from his mysterious absence last night. I wanted to be comforted, to be held and pet and told it was all a bad dream. But the only person I wanted it from was Severus. And I was angry enough at him to spit fire.

I called Hermione and asked if she wanted to come over for tea and she obliged, noting on the phone that I sounded worried. I shortly answered that I would explain when she came to my house.

Shortly, I found Hermione on my doorstep with a smile on her face, a spring in her step, and children in tow. I invited her in and she flounced on over to the sitting room, instructing Rose and Hugo to go find the other children and play. She settled in comfortably in the house that she knew well and I brought her a cup of tea. Her eyes raked over my body and she said, "It should be any day now, shouldn't it?"

I smiled slightly and said, "Yeah, I'm just so ready for her to come already!"

She laughed and commented, "Well, I've decided no more for me. Two is definitely enough, but I think Ron may want another. You know how he grew up with so many siblings."

I nodded knowledgably and leaned back in my chair, feeling the soft fabric through my clothes. Suddenly, Alexander burst in and exclaimed, "Mum, we forgot to get brass scales!"

I turned to him and said, slightly irritable at having my conversation with Hermione interrupted, "Alexander, I went into your room yesterday and saw that you have scales. You are _fine._"

"No it's not!" he moaned, ever the perfectionist. "We accidentally got silver scales!"

And, more irritable now this time, I said, "Alexander, your father has worked with potions his entire life, I'm _sure _he didn't get the wrong scales."

"Yes he did mum!" Alexander said indignantly, inferring his own stupidity from my words, even though I hadn't implied it. "He was just too distracted from some woman. Look!"

He practically shoved the scales under my nose in his rush to be proved right and I saw that they were indeed silver scales. I pushed them away and said, "Alexander, please, go put them in your room and we'll exchange them soon."

He pushed his bottom lip out in a very childlike way that wasn't like him at all. I could tell that he had been aiming to go right that moment. He trotted off from the room and I shook my head. It was like Alexander to be a perfectionist, but extremely unlike him to act like such a child. I wondered if he was reverting slightly to a more childlike state because of the new baby. Posy had when Tobias was born, but somehow I couldn't see Alexander behaving in such a way. I pushed those thoughts aside and looked at Hermione. A worry line puckered her forehead and a corner of her mouth was turned down in a small frown.

"What?" I asked somewhat impetuously.

"What's wrong?" she implored, knowing that something was wrong. I took a deep breath. Did I want to tell her? Of course; she was a sister to me.

The whole story came pouring out. The night Severus and I had had a fight, when he left, the next morning, the fight that resulted from it, and now the years later with the slutty woman and her child that looked exactly like Severus.

She was silent through all of it, digesting the hugeness of it and, when she spoke, she chose her words extremely carefully.

"Katherine, I- don't be upset with me, but I think that you should forgive him."

Forgiveness? Not after long years of repentance, the cold ability to hold a grudge, the gift my lunatic father had blessed upon me, burning in my veins.

I nodded. "Go on."

"He loves you. Truly. No one could be a better husband, and I think that this hurts him more than it hurts you. Because he knows how much you hurt," Hermione said softly.

I processed this slowly. Severus hurt? Yes, I could see that. But how could he hurt more than I, the person he had wronged so horribly? I shook my head and said, "It'll take a miracle or a paternity test saying he's not the father for me to forgive him.

_Fat chance though. It'll come back positive; the child looks too much like him._

At this though, tears welled in my eyes and threatened to fall down my cheeks. What would happen to us if it really was his kid? What about our kids? What would we tell them? And what if this Kristy woman wanted money from him for the rest of his life?

I blinked furiously to keep the tears at bay and suddenly there was a rapping at the window. I looked and found that it was an owl with the Daily Prophet. I swiped at the one tear that had escaped and opened the window to take the paper and pay the owl. When that was over with, I shut the window and threw the paper on the coffee table, planning to read it later. But something on the cover caught my eye that made me snatch it up and read every word of the article on the front page while Hermione looked over my shoulder.

**The Snapes: Skilled Con Artists**

_Katherine Snape, previously Malfoy, aged 29, is preparing for the birth of her fifth child. While others would say this is cause for congratulations, I would say this is a cause for concern. I've recently dug up some evidence that will shock the Wizarding World, and show that we don't need more liars among us, liars coaxed into being by Mrs. Snape and her husband, Severus._

_Mrs. Snape, raised by the Malfoys, is now widely known as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's daughter. Born to him and Belinda Burke, Mrs. Snape was undoubtedly destined to be a beautiful but terribly cunning woman. It was these tools that she used to seduce her Potions Master in her fourth year at Hogwarts, drawing him into an inappropriate student-teacher relationship, a relationship that produced twin girls._

_It was previously thought that her twin girls were born prematurely, seven months after her marriage to her husband. No one had contested that; until now. I did a little digging, and saw that the birth date for her twins was January 18, 1997, while her marriage is recorded at February 1, 1997, almost a full two weeks after the birth of their daughters. So it can only be assumed that their little bundles of joy were a result of inappropriate nights spent in the Potions Master's study._

_This is a relationship that neither should have partaken in, especially Mr. Snape since he was nearly 20 years older than her mere age of 15 at the time and should have known better. And Dumbledore, who knew full well of what happened, not only allowed Mrs. Snape to stay at the school and raise her children there so she could get an education, but allowed Mr. Snape to stay as a teacher! One would say that this is definitely a reason to worry; who knows how many other bastard children are out there, fathered by Mr. Snape with one of his sinfully too young students._

_And then their third child, little Alexander, is rumored to start Hogwarts this fall. If he truly does, that puts his birthday in late 1997 or in 1998, not too long after their little girls were brought into this world. Did they not learn their lesson the first time? Or is Alexander merely a poor child given to awful birth parents, like Mrs. Snape herself?_

_The birth records for Alexander Snape are sealed, but with my wit and charm, I was able to obtain his birth certificate. The names of the parents printed on the document filled me with such immense delight at such a dirty piece of gossip; a piece I will happily share with you._

_It is fortunate for Mr. and Mrs. Snape that Alexander looks remarkably like his mother. With his mop of curly black hair, his beautiful eyes and small mouth, they could almost be mistaken for brother and sister._

_And that, dear readers, is because they are._

_It turns out little Alexander was born to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and Bellatrix Lestrange, the woman who is widely known as his best lieutenant. Since they had a child together, one can assume they had a romantic relationship. Ever since the downfall of the Dark Lord, Mr. and Mrs. Snape have been trying to pass off the child as their own, never revealing his actual parentage._

_One former Death Eater, eager to dish the dirt on both Mrs. Snape and You-Know-Who, said this:_

"Everyone knew [Bellatrix] was sleeping with the Dark Lord. And then when she got pregnant with her son while she was still married, she and her husband had a huge fight and he left her. Soon after, the Dark Lord had him hunted down and killed, so he could have her all to himself. When the Dark Lord fell, Snape took in the kid, saying he was her own. She did good to get away with it too, since they both looked like their father."

_Such liars the Snape's are! And what a dastardly family Mrs. Snape comes from. Let us hope that her children will turn out to be decent members of society and not come under her, and her husband's, horrid influence._

_Your Wonderful Journalist Always,_

_Rita Skeeter_

Shaking with fury and fear, I rolled up the paper and threw it across the room. Not satisfied with this, I pointed my wand at it and screamed "Incendio!" I watched only slightly happily as it went up in flames. I paced the room and exclaimed, "The miserable bitch! She gets semi-correct information and then makes up the rest of it to tarnish good people's names!"

Hermione hesitatingly asked, "Well, wasn't all of it true?"

I turned on her with vehemence, fire sparking in my eyes and said, "Severus and I never engaged in an inappropriate relationship during fourth year! And he doesn't have bastard children running-"

I stopped myself there because there was a chance that there was a bastard child of his in the care of a blonde woman with scarlet red lips.

"It's just ridiculous! I'm going down to Diagon Alley to find the horrid wretch and confront her!" I said, already grabbing my purse to leave. Alexander came bolting into the room, asking for a book from Severus's study when he stopped himself midsentence.

"Where are you going mum?" he inquired.

"To Diagon Alley. Mummy has some business to clear up," I said shortly and absentmindedly.

"Ooo, can I _please _come with you to get my scales returned?" he questioned, already thinking in his mind the answer would be yes.

I sighed and figured that if I didn't do it now, he'd bother me until we could go.

"Fine. But you have to promise to be good and quiet while I do my business and then we'll switch your scales."

He nodded and ran to get an old worn book to occupy himself while I shouted down Rita. I knew I wasn't going to have a problem keeping him quiet.

I turned to Hermione and asked pleadingly, "Can you please look after the kids for a couple hours? Posy and Melanie can help you with the younger ones."

She sighed in the way mother's do sometimes and said, "Of course."

Suddenly she leaned in close and said quietly, "Give her hell."

I nodded because I knew how important taking Rita down a notch was to her. I called for Alexander and we stepped out into the street, ready to apparate to Diagon Alley. However, we never made it there.

Rough hands grappled with my arms and another clamped over my mouth. I tried to struggle, but the struggle lasted about two seconds; after those vital two seconds, we apparated.

_Author's Note: Where did they go? Who took them? Haha, the second question is pretty easy to answer yourself. :) Anyways, comment what you liked, didn't like, want to see. Until next chapter. :)_


	9. Chapter Nine

I watched Alexander intensely, waiting for him to wake up. I didn't move a muscle; in fact, I wasn't sure I could. My muscles ached horribly and I could feel bruises blossoming all over my body. I gritted my teeth against the pain, trying to forget how much pain crippled me more than others. But I would be awake and I would reassure Alexander when he awoke.

I wasn't sure how long I sat there. A minute? An hour? A day? Time seemed to melt away as me eyes glazed over watching Alexander. At some point, I didn't even see him, so focused was my mind on other things.

How long had it been since we were kidnapped? Who kidnapped us? Were there people looking for us, would they find us? What did these people want? What did they know?

And the most important of all questions. What would happen to us?

After a while of my brain chasing its own thoughts in circles, it became apparent to me that I was ravenous for food. My other animalistic senses emerged as well, demanding water, clean clothes, and a toilet. No sooner had I thought all of this, a table appeared out of nowhere that held clothes, bottles of water and a plate of sandwiches.

"The toilet would be nice too," I mumbled under my breath as I quickly changed into the clothes. After folding my dirty clothes from earlier and shoving them under the table, I looked up to find a toilet in the corner as well. After making use of this new amenity, I opened a bottle of water and guzzled it down, drinking every last drop like a dying man, although I was far from death as it was. I devoured a couple sandwiches, satiating my appetite and the baby's I was carrying when I heard a small voice behind me.

"Mum?" Alexander asked timidly. I turned slowly to look at him, swallowing the last bit of sandwich that was in my mouth. He looked at me plaintively and glanced at the metal walls before asking in a voice that shook so slightly even I almost didn't hear it, "Where are we?"

I descended upon him immediately and held him close, not wanting him to fear anything, let alone the scumbags who had kidnapped us. "I'm not sure darling, but we'll find out soon." I put a small smile on my face and said, "There're sandwiches if you want them."

He looked at them and said, "No, I'd rather go back to sleep."

I smiled softly and said, "Do you want me to sing you your lullaby?"

He sniffed in an obnoxiously imperious way and said, "I'm not a child to be coddled."

I made a point of faux shrugging and said, "Fine with me." I disentangled myself from him and sat a distance away. Within a minute, he was in my lap and I was smoothing his hair away from his face. He may have been the most mature child I knew, but he was still my little boy who needed comforting every once in a while.

After some time, Alexander fell asleep and my stomach grumbled, but I was loath to get up for more food in case I woke him. I pondered once more the implications of our kidnapping. What if Alexander and I died? I wouldn't be able to make up with Severus, the man I loved more than life itself. And our baby, the one I carried inside me, wouldn't be given a chance at life. And Alexander, so full of life and love, would never see Hogwarts. And the twins and Tobias would have to go through the pains of life with only one parent to support them.

I shivered at this last thought. I had made up my mind long ago where my family was concerned that I was willing to beg and plead for the way life was now. I did it once, and I sure as hell wasn't too proud to do it again.

I waited for the kidnappers.

_Author's Note: Ugh, I know I suck guys. I really do. Even with school last year I was able to update, like, once a night with CITM. But now I go months, and I hate it. THERE IS NO EXCUSE. I WILL TRY HARDER. My love to all of you that have stuck, even if there's only a handful after the long months of waiting, Storyseamstress95_


	10. Chapter Ten

"WHAT IN MERLIN'S FUCKING NAME ARE YOU SAYING POTTER?" I screamed, hard breaths being dragged through my long hooked nose as I did so.

I could see Potter literally cower the way he used to when he was at school. I knew he had seen me as a cold, merciless asshole when I was his teacher, but he had never seen me lose control like this. And I couldn't help myself.

I felt myself being ripped in two. Katherine, kidnapped? Along with our son whom we loved dearly? Where in Merlin's name could they be by now, and why had they been taken? Hundreds of questions reeled through my mind at lightning speed and nothing made sense.

"She was kidnapped Snape," said the redhead gently. As gently as you could be being a Weasley. Well, unless you married into it. I looked over at Granger and saw that she had her face in her hands, weeping quietly as the twins comforted her. Tobias had been sent to his room with the Weasley children.

"I want to know by whom!" I demanded from no one in particular. I was panicking. What if Katherine died and the last thing she knew I had done was finding a hotel room and spending the night away from her because I believed she was acting like a cold, vengeful woman? It wasn't to be borne!

"We have only one lead," said Potter miserably. "That terrorist group; we think they're the likely people to have taken Katherine and Alexander. The problem is though; we have no idea where they're hiding out."

"WELL FIND IT." I threatened menacingly. "OR I'M GOING TO-"

"Snape!" Weasley cut me off. He glanced over at my daughters who seemed on the brink of tears themselves as they watched my breakdown. I swallowed my grief and anger and said sternly, "Melanie. Posy. Go back to your room."

They looked at each other for a split second, seemingly debating whether to obey me or not. They chose the smart thing to do and left the room, leaving me with Potter and the Weasleys.

"Snape, we swear, we're going to do everything we can to find them. But-", and Potter faltered at this point, "we can't make any promises."

I felt ready to slap someone, to chuck a book across the room, to find the people who had kidnapped my wife and son myself and kill each and every one of them in a slow, agonizing death. The hatred and anger seeped through my heart and bones, taking over every nook and cranny of my body. It filled me up until I was nothing but those two emotions. And then, the unsullied part of my body, my brain clicked into gear and told me this was irrational behavior. I took in a deep breath and counted slowly to ten. After I regained composure, I said quietly, "Thank you. Please. Go."

My former pupils not needing any more encouragement to flee my presence, they high-tailed it out of my house, taking with them the Weasley children and shut the door quickly behind them. I sat down in my chair and buried my face in my hands. My sweet wife. Kidnapped. My brilliant son. Kidnapped as well.

I would probably never see them again.

_Author's Note: Sorry for the crappy writing. :/ But I hope you guys enjoyed it! :)_


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